Page 31 of Below The Surface
I curse the hallway light for being on when I open the door and sneak out as fast as possible while also making sure the door doesn’t make much noise as I close it.
My room is next door and I decide a change of clothes is probably for the best. I don’t want the guys from Steve’s Flower Shop to realize they saw me at Jim’s.
I find my dark leggings and a black, long-sleeved shirt. The combo keeps me mostly hidden in shadows when I wear my balaclava. Usually, I smear black shadow across my eyes so my pale ass skin doesn’t make me glow like a damn lightning bug, but today I’m a bit lazy. I’ll just be extra careful. Also, can’t forget combat boots. I’d rather wear my sparkly pink ones, but those wouldabsolutelystand out in the dark. I pout as I lace up my black boots. At least I have cute socks on.
“Got a job?” Kendra asks when I walk by the couch in my ass kicking gear.
“Yep. Jim asked me to look into something around his neighborhood. I tossed my phone in the bad guys’s truck so I gotta go rescue it.” I plop down next to her and use my laptop to find my phone. “Gotcha.” I do feel really naked without my phone, though. Like what the fuck do I do if my car breaks down in the middle of the road and I don’t have my phone? Not that I’m worried about it. My car is only like two years old and still under warranty.
“Before you head out, I’ve got some eyes on Charles. And so far there’s nothing on the cams in Dallas’s place. His stalker must have seen you sometime.”
I nod. “The stalker is more professional than I thought. I also wonder if they’re connected to the flower shop I’m about to investigate.”
When Kendra gives me a look, I give her the deets on Dallas’s and my date at Jim’s. I don’t tell her it was a date, though.
“Interesting.” She taps her bottom lip and goes back to her laptop. “Do you have the address for the flower shop?”
“I have where my phone is, dunno if it’s the flower shop. But searching for the shop right now, nothing pulls up. So I don’t know if it exists or if it’s a cover for something else.”
“Have fun investigating. Kisses.” Kendra pats my knee before I push to my feet.
I press a kiss to her cheek. “If he wakes up, tell him I went for a swim without him.”
“Will do.” She drops her gaze back to her screen. “Be safe.”
“I plan on it.”
The moment I step out of the building I realize that without my phone I’m also without my hype songs, which means it takes me a ridiculous amount of time to find a radio station that plays music more than talks or runs ads.
Finally, finding something satisfying, I set onto the road, remembering the address.
There’s something about maps I can just give one a glance and remember where the heck I’m going. If someone tells me an address, I can pretty much find where I’m going without consulting a map if I’m familiar with the area. And I’m familiar with the area my phone’s located. Unless the flower shop guys moved. Then I might be fucked unless I can borrow someone’s phone to call Kendra to locate my phone again, so let’s hope my phone hasn’t moved.
I turn off my lights and turn down my music as I creep onto the street the app had indicated my phone is at.
“There is a flower shop!” I whisper to myself, then slap a hand over my mouth when a dog barks. It’s probably just coincidence, but who knows?
The other businesses and houses around look well kept. There’s commotion at the flower shop and I park in an open spot in front of a paint shop a block away. If the guys are paying attention, they’ll probably notice me.
I exit my car and gently close my door. I sneak over to the other side of the street. Imagine Jim Carrey’s The Grinch and that’s the exact gremlin type energy I used to get there. I go down the alley so the flower shop guys won’t see me coming head on. I startle a gaggle of geese and shush them as I dodge goose shit on my way through the back alley. Ew.
I really hope I get to murder someone tonight because if not and I have to pick goose shit from the treads of these soles, I’m gonna be hella pissed.
“Hey!” someone hollers, and I let out a breath when I realize it’s not directed at me.
I’m close enough to the shop I can hear their conversation.
“The hydrangeas haven’t gotten in yet. Or the azaleas. Or the damn tulips.” One of the twins practically squeezes his phone to the point of breaking. “They were supposed to get here twenty minutes ago. Where are they?”
Oh, this is interesting. Are they waiting on actual flowers? People? Drugs? Something else I hadn’t thought of?
I look around to find a place in the shadows where I can wait them out. My balaclava goes over my face, and I rub a bit of soot from a burn barrel next to me over my face to dim the brightness of my pale skin. The curse of the redhead. Thank goodness it’s a new moon, or close to it, not much light anywhere except a few dim street lamps.
I settle into a squat and wait.
And wait.
Andmother fuckingwait.
